The Dirt on Public Archaeology

Last week I got to go out for a morning and help Carl on his latest dig downtown. I took photos of my feature (a large post) and artifacts from other areas of the site. The last two images feature this week's WIIW.

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Carl gives me my assignment

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Me sweet talking my post hole.

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Artifacts from the post.

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Mapping the site.

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St. Johns sherd.

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Taking the time to talk to the public.

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Alright, you're all warmed up now...take a look at the artifact below in Donald's palm. Yes it's a button, but what kind of button?

Last week's answer: it's a date! A date nail, anyway. "Date nails were driven into railroad ties, bridge timbers, utility poles, mine props, and other wooden structures for record keeping purposes (Oaks 2001)." The one photographed came from the Monticello Railway Museum in Illinois but is similar to those found throughout the US. For more information check out University of Indianapolis Math professor Jeff Oak's web page Date Nail Info (2001), author of Date Nails and Railroad Tie Preservation (1999).